‘Latex Luau’ equips students for safe sex over spring break

Free condoms, sex education games and raffles for free sex toys are just a few of the aspects of the Rutgers University Programming Association’s Latex Luau Tuesday evening.
The RUPA Latex Luau Spring Break: Sun, Sand and STDs was designed to promote safe sex and drug abuse awareness in a fun way through a Hawaiian-style luau with food, music, games and prizes, said Mayank Patel, vice president of RUPA’s Arts and Issues Committee.
 “It’s especially important before people go on spring break to know about safe-sex facts,” said Bayruns, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
The event held in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus featured a raffle to win prizes such as playing cards and whistles in the shape of a penis, lubricants, various sex toys, fishnet stockings and spring break beach gear like flip-flops, a beach umbrella, towels, sunscreen and candy.
“It’s usually always really popular,” said Castillo, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
About 40 people attended the event, where even the food table had a glass sculpture of a woman’s breast and torso and bowls filled with free condoms.
Games included “Pin the Macho on the Man” and “Pin the Boobs on the Babe,” where a person was blindfolded, spun around to get dizzy and then asked to pin the breasts and penis on photos of a man and woman with bull’s-eye targets.
Another game highlighted the consequences of being intoxicated while having sex. Participants had to put on vision-impairment goggles and try to put a condom on a rubber penis to show how difficult it is to practice safe sex while intoxicated.
But it was not all fun and games.
Tables around the Multipurpose Room such as the “Guess the Disease” game table featured real-life pictures of symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Ana Castillo, a member of RUPA’s Trips and Leisure Committee, said she thinks showing real-life situations like these is important in promoting safe sex.
She said college students tend to ignore the consequences of their sexual actions, especially during spring break, when many students take vacations and at times may party irresponsibly.
RUPA chair Sera Bayruns said the event is held every year the week before spring break.
Students from a “drug culture and society” class were also at the event to distribute drug abuse and addiction facts. Their poster board included information on drugs called uppers — drugs with side effects can include increased heart rate, sweating and hypertension, such as the pill Ritalin.
School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Ernestine Keh said during spring break, college students tend to use uppers to give them energy to party but do not know the negative consequences such as addiction and withdrawal.
Surveys with questions about the effects of these drugs were handed out. The answers appeared on the poster board and the students’ e-mails were entered into a raffle to win one of several gift cards to department stores, Keh said.
Another game featuring drug abuse facts was “Mary J. Jeopardy,” which taught the facts, myths and effects of marijuana.
The game had facts on movies with characters that use the drug, such as “Pineapple Express,” and questions about music, such as which decades of music sang about marijuana the most.
“It’s a nice and fun way to get information,” said Mohammed Bukari, an Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy student.    
The RU Sure Campaign showed the facts of alcohol use among University students. The information table had information that stated two in three students stop at three or fewer drinks, and one in five students do not drink at all.
Patel, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said the event has been going on annually for about five years and is always a success with the help of Rutgers University Health Services.
“Health Services has great information to serve the Rutgers community and promote safe sex effectively,” he said.